AI is now a part of everyday life and is being built into ever more devices and applications. For some time now, the employment department at DFA Law has noticed a growing trend of employee complaints and grievances that are clearly written by AI.
From an employee’s perspective the attractions are clear. Generative AI allows an employee to produce a grievance that looks polished (clear headings, timelines etc) and sounds impressively legal. However, despite looking impressive at first glance, AI tools can get things wrong. They invent case references, misstate rules, or encourage people to pursue arguments or complaints that are unrealistic or irrelevant.
Also, the fact that AI generated grievances typically sound ‘legal’, can increase escalation if the tone is perceived as overly aggressive. For employers, the impact is more negative.
AI-generated grievances are usually overly complicated, repetitive and can include a lot of irrelevant points that distract from the real crux of the employee’s complaint and hinders resolution. Picking through such complaints wastes management time, extends the time taken to deal with a grievance and can cause workplace relationships to sour.
Also, for any non-specialist, identifying errors and irrelevancies in AI generated text is daunting and further increases the time and resources needed to deal with a grievance. This is where DFA law LLP can help. Our expert employment solicitors can strip away the jargon, errors and side issues to reveal what the complaint is really about.
This will allow a focused, efficient investigation of the relevant facts paving the way for a swift and fair outcome.
AI-enabled ‘law firms’
Another relatively new phenomenon is the rise of AI law firms where clients interact entirely with AI and can choose not to incur the costs associated with interacting with a human adviser. These AI tools turn their client’s story into a structured grievance, settlement letter or tribunal pleading and then submit it as if it is coming from a real law firm. For employees, the appeal is significantly reduced costs compared to instructing a human adviser.
One example that we have encountered recently is Grapple Law, launched in 2025 as an AI-powered employment law service aimed at employees. Its website states: “Grapple Law is a fully automated law firm with no lawyers doing the cases. But it is built on the knowledge of thousands of successful legal cases…
Grapple Law is a new type of law firm, powered by AI, not people.
“As such, it is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, does not have professional indemnity insurance, and does not report to the Legal Ombudsman. “We believe that this is better for the regulators (because they are designed to regulate human lawyers, not AIs) and better for clients too, because it is faster, more efficient and more affordable.”
The AI platforms make money by taking a percentage of any compensation paid out to their client (15% in the case of Grapple). Despite the fact that Grapple is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, correspondence sent from this AI platform certainly looks like it comes from a real law firm which can be intimidating for the recipient business.
Unfortunately, ignoring correspondence from AI representatives will not make them go away, and can risk making matters worse. DFA Law has experience of dealing with such platforms and is available to assist your business in successfully navigating a way through this new employment law landscape.
AI-enabled employee legal services are moving into the mainstream, and businesses should brace themselves for an increase in the amount of AI generated employee submissions. The correct response is to seek legal advice at an early stage, and ensure that grievance handling remains human, consistent and evidence led.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about the content of this article or need help dealing with AI drafted grievances responding to an AI law firm.
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